ciento FRESHIEnto :)

I woke up earlier than usual. My dad's driver picked me and my mom up at six in the morning. I picked my best casual-yet-serious-looking shirt, donned my favorite jeans, used my new white bag, and wore my new YSL sandals (aka Yari sa Liliw, haha), checked my Blue Clearbook of Important Documents, and off I went. This is it, I told myself.

I was greeted by the huge banner, "Mabuhay mga bagong Iskolar ng KAL!" as I arrived at the College of Arts and Letters, or Kolehiyo ng Arte at Literatura (KAL). I munched on my McDonald's fries with anxiety as I step inside the halls of my soon-to-be building. We were led by the security guard to the second KAL building at the back. There we were greeted by another welcome banner, and several students with their moms. All were eagerly waiting for the start of the briefing which will be given to us at eight o'clock. There I sat down and tried my best straight-not-excited face just so I won't look to eager, but I'm not sure how well I did, I'm not a theater major anyway. A few moments a later, another mother and daughter pair arrived and sat next to us. Our moms started talking, and so we started talking. Thus, my first ever friend in UP, Haila. She's from Marikina Science High School and is going to take up BA English Studies. After a while, we were escorted up the building and were welcomed warmly by the secretary of the dean of CAL, Señor Maranan. He was an old, kind gentleman who emitted that grandfather vibe. He told us his role in our lives as CAL students, and advised us as we take on this new journey. He kept on telling us that we are UP students, therefore we must be proud of what we have achieved just by getting into the school. So, a huge responsibility is on us: to study well and do good. Our school may not be as class or as "sosi" as the others, but we must get by because this is life inside the UP, everyone is equal, everyone is up for the same challenges. He gave us his two basic rules: 1.) We are not allowed to joined fraternities and sororities, and 2.) We should truly prioritize our studies -- no more gala or tambay. This made our parents extremely happy, my mom especially. More reminders later, and we were escorted to the other building to meet with our respective advisers.

I claimed my Form 5A and Student Directory, then immediately went to the second floor, Room 2061. It was there I was supposed to meet my future adviser, Prof. Los Baños (immediately followed by a chuckle inside my head, "LB in Diliman! Hahaha, funny,") By the stairs, I saw three other students waiting. One of them asked me, "Creative Writing ka ba?" to which I replied, "Oo." So we sat there, waiting and chatting. Two more arrived, and thus the completion of the Creative Writing students block B-11: Karla, Andee, Rose, Jamie, and Catherine. Yes, there were only five of us. We fooled ourselves into thinking that more will be coming but alas, no one else did. So we just spent the time chatting and getting to know each other. To my surprise, there were three Paulinians in our block! Andee was from St. Paul Pasig, Rose was from St. Paul QC, and of course, yours truly from Parañaque. I saw it as a blessing in disguise because we all got along really well already. But of course, our other two blockmates were great as well. We joked and laughed about different things, talking like we've been friends for a long time. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, a tall, bald, macho man came and asked us, "Are you all CW?" Stunned, we nodded in unison with the realization finally dawning on us: It was Professor Los Baños.

I entered the room, with huge butterflies pterodactyls flying aroudn my stomach. I was dying to make a good impression. Thoughts circled and swirled inside my head as I walked to his desk. Should I smile? Do I introduce myself right away or wait for him to ask? Was I supposed to speak in English? What if I make a mistake? Should I tell him how eager I am with this course? What was I supposed to say and do? This was, after all, my future adviser, the person who will check me up with my grades, advise me on my subjects, and basically guide me through my whole CW experience. Nervous would probably be an understatement for that kind of feeling. "Good morning, sir," I finally said. He asked me to sat down and I handed him my Form 5A and directory. "Complete na pala ang mga subjects mo. Okay, fill this up," He handed me a form, wrote my name, and copied my subjects. He got one of the two directories, returned the other forms to me and mumbled, "Okay, submit this to the OUR. You may go." And that was it.

I came out of the room probably with a stunned-slash-relieved expression on my face, which I'm afraid, kind of scared Andee. But I managed to smile at her before she went in, and I was finally able to breathe. I immediately went to my mom, telling her the story as I gasped my breath. We walked to the Office of the University Registrar (OUR) to finally get enrolled. Upon arriving, I told my mom I'll go in already since parents weren't allowed inside. And thus my first taste of the University of Pila. Everywhere you go, there's a queue waiting for you. Some long, some short, some quickly moving, some not moving -- but a line all the same. Thankfully there were a lot of student assistants who were there to guide us and help make everything easier for us freshmen. And good thing too that we were seated so it wasn't really much of a struggle. It was in the line that I saw Inna, who came from the College of Engineering. We didn't get to talk much though because the line moved right away and we were separated. I went to window after window, floor after floor, form after form. I was looking at my neatly arranged Blue Clearbook of Important Documents (special thanks to my Mom, who graciously and voluntarily did that for me -- because that's what moms are for right, Mommy?) and ensuring that I was doing the right thing on the particular step. And then it hit me, I was doing everything on my own. No Inna, no Mommy, no one to complain to or to ask someone else to do the job. Just me and my Blue Clearbook of Important Documents. Hence, another realization: in college, kanya-kanya na talaga.

After a perpituity of windows and tables, I was finally assessed. I still can't help telling myself that "Ang mura talaga sa UP," in spite of its overtness. I paid cold hard blue-green cash at the cashier, took my receipt and finally, finally -- I'M ENROLLED. Yahoo! :)

MAY 6th, Tuesday

Once again, I woke up earlier than usual. Tuesday is the orientation of the May 5 enrollees. With me is Inna, who asked if she could go with me because her parents are out of the country. We were both so nervous and yet, very excited. We didn't know what's in store for us but we're pretty sure we're ready for it. With huge dirty ice cream cones in hand, we braced ourselves as we made our way to the Diosdado Macapagal Hall in the College of Economics, where the orientation will be held.

Outside, I immediately saw my blockmates Jamie, Andee, and Rose. The other one, Catherine, was missing. But nevertheless we stuck together already. I introduced them to Inna and told them that we should sit together inside. One man approached the two of us and gave us fliers. Apparently, it's a group against the tuition fee increase in UP. We looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh -- not at them of course, but the fact that it's just our first day, and already there were people inviting us. Haha. Anyway, we entered the big hall after registering and sat there, anxiously but eagerly. Several minutes later, after everyone has settled, the program started.

The theme was: "Ciento FRESHIEnto, Isko Ako! The Centennial Freshmen Orientation." Just the title itself was already exhilirating. Obviously, this year is very special for us since it is UP's 100th (Centennial) year, and we are the Centennial Freshmen. That in itself is already quite a recognition :)

The emcees were very engaging, telling us to shout "Cheeseburger!" if they ask us how we were. It was funny, actually, especially when they ask all the colleges one by one and get different responses from each. The College of Engineering reply with such low voices because most of them are boys (except for Inna! Haha). The College of Music meanwhile, had someone shouting in a very high voice. And the Department of Library and Information Science -- well let's just say, he had no one else to say Cheeseburger but him. Yep, all alone. May mas konti pa sa course namin, thank God! :) They were extremely hilarious, even spoofing the other colleges that weren't there (haha, sorry College of Science, Home Eco, Educ, and the others! Haha) and giving us trivia, tips, and other whatnots about our future school. They got us really excited about the UP Fair and other events too! Now I can't wait for everything!

The Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Prof. Dr. Elizabeth Enriquez later gave her welcoming remarks. "Fresh na fresh pa talaga kayo, hindi pa nakakatikim ng kwatro (4) at singko (5)!" she said, to which an uproar of nervous laughter from the freshies followed. She told us how extremely lucky we were by giving us facts and numbers: we were one of the 12,000 who passed among the 66,000 who took the UPCAT, and 2,000 of the 40,000 who aspired to go to UP Diliman. Indeed we should be proud that we are Iskolars and are studying in the flagship campus of the state university. All throughout the program, the emcees kept on telling and reminding us how many great scientists, presidents, lawyers, national artists and other successful people graduated from UP. It was very overwhelming, definitely, but gratifying all the same.

The UP Concert Chorale and the UP Pep Squad were also there to welcome us! Grabe, I was amazed by the UPCC's performance. They just came from Switzerland and Italy by the way, bringing home the grand prize for excellence in various competitions there. They were definitely world-class. Then the UP Pep Squad came and taught us the school cheers! Inna and I were looking at each other, already concocting plans inside our heads for the UAAP games. We live for UAAP, and now we're actually going to cheer for a school -- OUR SCHOOL! I had goosebumps while shouting the ever famous "U! nibersidad! ng Pilipinas!" cheer, with matching drums and actions! And yes, it was defnitely better than cheering with the UP crowd on TV.. and that was just the orientation! What more for the real actual games? :) They also taught us the UP hymn, "UP Naming Mahal." It was of course going to take some getting used to since twelve years of "Hark, children of the great St. Paul!" and "My goal as a Paulinian is this.." will forever be etched in our memory. But Inna and I swore that we're going to practice all the cheers and songs, and really shout our hearts out in upcoming events! Haha. School spirit, anyone? :)

After all has been said and done, we came out of the hall feeling the exact same way we did when we entered; nervous and very, very excited. But I'm going to be the first to say that the orientation only sparked our excitement even more. Now we're starting to bleed Maroon, and we wouldn't have it any other way -- or color :)

ciento FRESHIEnto :)

I woke up earlier than usual. My dad's driver picked me and my mom up at six in the morning. I picked my best casual-yet-serious-looking shirt, donned my favorite jeans, used my new white bag, and wore my new YSL sandals (aka Yari sa Liliw, haha), checked my Blue Clearbook of Important Documents, and off I went. This is it, I told myself.

I was greeted by the huge banner, "Mabuhay mga bagong Iskolar ng KAL!" as I arrived at the College of Arts and Letters, or Kolehiyo ng Arte at Literatura (KAL). I munched on my McDonald's fries with anxiety as I step inside the halls of my soon-to-be building. We were led by the security guard to the second KAL building at the back. There we were greeted by another welcome banner, and several students with their moms. All were eagerly waiting for the start of the briefing which will be given to us at eight o'clock. There I sat down and tried my best straight-not-excited face just so I won't look to eager, but I'm not sure how well I did, I'm not a theater major anyway. A few moments a later, another mother and daughter pair arrived and sat next to us. Our moms started talking, and so we started talking. Thus, my first ever friend in UP, Haila. She's from Marikina Science High School and is going to take up BA English Studies. After a while, we were escorted up the building and were welcomed warmly by the secretary of the dean of CAL, Señor Maranan. He was an old, kind gentleman who emitted that grandfather vibe. He told us his role in our lives as CAL students, and advised us as we take on this new journey. He kept on telling us that we are UP students, therefore we must be proud of what we have achieved just by getting into the school. So, a huge responsibility is on us: to study well and do good. Our school may not be as class or as "sosi" as the others, but we must get by because this is life inside the UP, everyone is equal, everyone is up for the same challenges. He gave us his two basic rules: 1.) We are not allowed to joined fraternities and sororities, and 2.) We should truly prioritize our studies -- no more gala or tambay. This made our parents extremely happy, my mom especially. More reminders later, and we were escorted to the other building to meet with our respective advisers.

I claimed my Form 5A and Student Directory, then immediately went to the second floor, Room 2061. It was there I was supposed to meet my future adviser, Prof. Los Baños (immediately followed by a chuckle inside my head, "LB in Diliman! Hahaha, funny,") By the stairs, I saw three other students waiting. One of them asked me, "Creative Writing ka ba?" to which I replied, "Oo." So we sat there, waiting and chatting. Two more arrived, and thus the completion of the Creative Writing students block B-11: Karla, Andee, Rose, Jamie, and Catherine. Yes, there were only five of us. We fooled ourselves into thinking that more will be coming but alas, no one else did. So we just spent the time chatting and getting to know each other. To my surprise, there were three Paulinians in our block! Andee was from St. Paul Pasig, Rose was from St. Paul QC, and of course, yours truly from Parañaque. I saw it as a blessing in disguise because we all got along really well already. But of course, our other two blockmates were great as well. We joked and laughed about different things, talking like we've been friends for a long time. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, a tall, bald, macho man came and asked us, "Are you all CW?" Stunned, we nodded in unison with the realization finally dawning on us: It was Professor Los Baños.

I entered the room, with huge butterflies pterodactyls flying aroudn my stomach. I was dying to make a good impression. Thoughts circled and swirled inside my head as I walked to his desk. Should I smile? Do I introduce myself right away or wait for him to ask? Was I supposed to speak in English? What if I make a mistake? Should I tell him how eager I am with this course? What was I supposed to say and do? This was, after all, my future adviser, the person who will check me up with my grades, advise me on my subjects, and basically guide me through my whole CW experience. Nervous would probably be an understatement for that kind of feeling. "Good morning, sir," I finally said. He asked me to sat down and I handed him my Form 5A and directory. "Complete na pala ang mga subjects mo. Okay, fill this up," He handed me a form, wrote my name, and copied my subjects. He got one of the two directories, returned the other forms to me and mumbled, "Okay, submit this to the OUR. You may go." And that was it.

I came out of the room probably with a stunned-slash-relieved expression on my face, which I'm afraid, kind of scared Andee. But I managed to smile at her before she went in, and I was finally able to breathe. I immediately went to my mom, telling her the story as I gasped my breath. We walked to the Office of the University Registrar (OUR) to finally get enrolled. Upon arriving, I told my mom I'll go in already since parents weren't allowed inside. And thus my first taste of the University of Pila. Everywhere you go, there's a queue waiting for you. Some long, some short, some quickly moving, some not moving -- but a line all the same. Thankfully there were a lot of student assistants who were there to guide us and help make everything easier for us freshmen. And good thing too that we were seated so it wasn't really much of a struggle. It was in the line that I saw Inna, who came from the College of Engineering. We didn't get to talk much though because the line moved right away and we were separated. I went to window after window, floor after floor, form after form. I was looking at my neatly arranged Blue Clearbook of Important Documents (special thanks to my Mom, who graciously and voluntarily did that for me -- because that's what moms are for right, Mommy?) and ensuring that I was doing the right thing on the particular step. And then it hit me, I was doing everything on my own. No Inna, no Mommy, no one to complain to or to ask someone else to do the job. Just me and my Blue Clearbook of Important Documents. Hence, another realization: in college, kanya-kanya na talaga.

After a perpituity of windows and tables, I was finally assessed. I still can't help telling myself that "Ang mura talaga sa UP," in spite of its overtness. I paid cold hard blue-green cash at the cashier, took my receipt and finally, finally -- I'M ENROLLED. Yahoo! :)

MAY 6th, Tuesday

Once again, I woke up earlier than usual. Tuesday is the orientation of the May 5 enrollees. With me is Inna, who asked if she could go with me because her parents are out of the country. We were both so nervous and yet, very excited. We didn't know what's in store for us but we're pretty sure we're ready for it. With huge dirty ice cream cones in hand, we braced ourselves as we made our way to the Diosdado Macapagal Hall in the College of Economics, where the orientation will be held.

Outside, I immediately saw my blockmates Jamie, Andee, and Rose. The other one, Catherine, was missing. But nevertheless we stuck together already. I introduced them to Inna and told them that we should sit together inside. One man approached the two of us and gave us fliers. Apparently, it's a group against the tuition fee increase in UP. We looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh -- not at them of course, but the fact that it's just our first day, and already there were people inviting us. Haha. Anyway, we entered the big hall after registering and sat there, anxiously but eagerly. Several minutes later, after everyone has settled, the program started.

The theme was: "Ciento FRESHIEnto, Isko Ako! The Centennial Freshmen Orientation." Just the title itself was already exhilirating. Obviously, this year is very special for us since it is UP's 100th (Centennial) year, and we are the Centennial Freshmen. That in itself is already quite a recognition :)

The emcees were very engaging, telling us to shout "Cheeseburger!" if they ask us how we were. It was funny, actually, especially when they ask all the colleges one by one and get different responses from each. The College of Engineering reply with such low voices because most of them are boys (except for Inna! Haha). The College of Music meanwhile, had someone shouting in a very high voice. And the Department of Library and Information Science -- well let's just say, he had no one else to say Cheeseburger but him. Yep, all alone. May mas konti pa sa course namin, thank God! :) They were extremely hilarious, even spoofing the other colleges that weren't there (haha, sorry College of Science, Home Eco, Educ, and the others! Haha) and giving us trivia, tips, and other whatnots about our future school. They got us really excited about the UP Fair and other events too! Now I can't wait for everything!

The Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Prof. Dr. Elizabeth Enriquez later gave her welcoming remarks. "Fresh na fresh pa talaga kayo, hindi pa nakakatikim ng kwatro (4) at singko (5)!" she said, to which an uproar of nervous laughter from the freshies followed. She told us how extremely lucky we were by giving us facts and numbers: we were one of the 12,000 who passed among the 66,000 who took the UPCAT, and 2,000 of the 40,000 who aspired to go to UP Diliman. Indeed we should be proud that we are Iskolars and are studying in the flagship campus of the state university. All throughout the program, the emcees kept on telling and reminding us how many great scientists, presidents, lawyers, national artists and other successful people graduated from UP. It was very overwhelming, definitely, but gratifying all the same.

The UP Concert Chorale and the UP Pep Squad were also there to welcome us! Grabe, I was amazed by the UPCC's performance. They just came from Switzerland and Italy by the way, bringing home the grand prize for excellence in various competitions there. They were definitely world-class. Then the UP Pep Squad came and taught us the school cheers! Inna and I were looking at each other, already concocting plans inside our heads for the UAAP games. We live for UAAP, and now we're actually going to cheer for a school -- OUR SCHOOL! I had goosebumps while shouting the ever famous "U! nibersidad! ng Pilipinas!" cheer, with matching drums and actions! And yes, it was defnitely better than cheering with the UP crowd on TV.. and that was just the orientation! What more for the real actual games? :) They also taught us the UP hymn, "UP Naming Mahal." It was of course going to take some getting used to since twelve years of "Hark, children of the great St. Paul!" and "My goal as a Paulinian is this.." will forever be etched in our memory. But Inna and I swore that we're going to practice all the cheers and songs, and really shout our hearts out in upcoming events! Haha. School spirit, anyone? :)

After all has been said and done, we came out of the hall feeling the exact same way we did when we entered; nervous and very, very excited. But I'm going to be the first to say that the orientation only sparked our excitement even more. Now we're starting to bleed Maroon, and we wouldn't have it any other way -- or color :)

She's a modern lover; it's an exploration, she's made of outer space

Hello, I'm Karla Bernardo. If you Google my name, you will find the Wikipedia entry of a Canadian serial-killer (and trust me, you do not want
to read about that - but I'm sure you will because now you're curious), which is why I suggest you type Bombastarr instead so you can stalk me better.

I am twenty-four years old, but nobody believes me when I tell them that. I am completely in love with the University of the Philippines, where I graduated with a degree in Creative Writing, and where I am currently a law student. It is also where I learned how to speak a bit of Italian, got a taste of the best tapsilog, and took striptease for PE.

Ask, and you shall be answered

Got a comment, question, violent reaction, love letter, or random piece of information you want to share with me? Just fire away. I don't bite.

(I changed my form and went back to Freedback because Ask.fm's being a bitch, requiring people to sign up for accounts before asking questions. Because I love you guys, I tweaked my ask box a bit, so that the questions will now go directly to my e-mail, but I'll be posting the answers still on my Ask.fm for convenience. TL;DR - I'll still be getting your questions so no worries. You're still free to harass me / send me your love.)

Most Frequently Asked Question

Are you a pornstar?No, I am not a pornstar, stripper, or your friendly neighborhood call girl. It's just a fancy pseudonym with a long history, and two R's. Rawr.

Bombastarr.com

Bombastarr is my personal blog and my little corner in the Internet since 2005. Yes, I started writing here when I was 13 years old (aka when I was very angsty, hormonal, and always gushing at the littlest things) -- ergo, you'd have to forgive me if you come across an old post that reeks of immaturity and slightly unpolished grammar. I did a lot of growing up here, and from the looks of it, there's still a lot of growing up to do, so I don't think I'll be leaving this place any time soon.

The domain, Bombastarr.com, was purchased on June 2014 and
launched on July 2014, on the blog's ninth year (and fifth month, to be exact).

It's crazy to think that this blog is now eleven years old, because (1) that seems like an eternity in internet years, and (2) that means if my blog were a kid, it's a fifth grader! That's insane.

Here's to more tales, explosive and otherwise.

So, why Bombastarr?

If you've been living under a rock and think I'm a threat to world peace or an object of covetousness, sorry to disappoint you, folks: it's just a fancy pseudonym.

As in most things, it started in high school. It began as a joke between me and a couple of friends during our freshman year. We were practicing for a field demonstration dance which involved the use of shawls, and being the crazy-always-trying-to-be-funny person that I was (or I always attempted to be) I started doing poses with the garment. Someone started taking my picture using my phone, and one shot looked like I was posing for those B-list movies (or should it be R-list, as in R-rated?) of the vegetable-nomenclature variety. #IKYWIM. Hence, the word, "Bombastarr." Yes, very cheeky, I know, but for a 13-year-old, it was quirky enough to figure as a username. That was 2005, right around the time I trying to decide on a URL for a new blog. It's been a lot of years since, and what started as a joke became something I've eventually embraced as an identity.

Despite the many other chances I've gotten to permanently move (to Multiply, Livejournal, Tumblr, Wordpress; to a bigger platform where I can earn or use the blog as a venue for commerce), I've come to realize that Bombastarr is something I can never truly leave behind. It is a place I've grown to appreciate and love because it is a place I can call my own. It's a venue for my rants, my views, my writing. It is home, and it is who I am.

Bombastarr is a glimpse of my life: the thoughts, ideas, and stories that shape it into what it is, and what it will still become. This journal has been with me for all my crazy, often embarrassing adventures, but I'm sure there will be more anecdotes and feelings and people to write about. Which is something I'm really looking forward to. After all, you know what they say about the greatest stories - sometimes, there's still a lot that's left unwritten.